The Walkin' Has Begun on tonight's Blues Moon Radio Jan. 24, 2017

As your host, Clair DeLune, always says, "Tuesday is Bluesday!"

We have a great show lined up for tonight and it kicks off with a great song "The Talkin' Is Over - the Walkin' Has Begun," by the growly and gritty Johnny Sansone.

Got some big leaps to make to get past the grip of evil, so the rest of the theme is to inspire everyone in their efforts to "be nice, and do right" and jump over evil so as not to let it "gitcha!" Evil comes in large AND small ways you know. The Blues will teach you that you cannot close your eyes to evil or it grows unfettered.

We are also celebrating our Artist of the Week, Etta James, with thanks to our segment underwriter, WordofMouthProductions.org, who bring great music to the Midlands!

And a tip of the felt Tam to SC's own NEA Heritage Fellow, Drink Small, whose 84th birthday takes place on 1/28!  The link is to an interview I set up between him and the NEA two years ago, and was asked to transcribe... it was 10,000 words and in Drink's deeply Southern drawl, so I linked to the transcription for you non-Suthnuhs. You are welcome!


NEA interview with Drink Small, the Blues Doctor
(2015 National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellow)
at his home in Columbia, S.C. July 2015
Photo by: Clair DeLune, all rights reserved 2015

 

In addition to the playlist below, we'll hear tribute cuts to two SC Blues artists, Drink Small; another Jan 28th birthday celebrant, Juke Joint Johnny*, and Charleston's own Shrimp City Slim, who appears at Foxfield Friday night...

*Due to unforeseen circumstances that took place after this was first published, Juke Joint Johnny will no longer be featured on Blues Moon Radio.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We always love to remind you that there are some great concerts coming your way:

Foxfield:
Shrimp City Slim - Friday Jan. 27
Parker Connor - Friday Feb. 10

Blue Moon Concert Series
Ultrafaux – Gypsy Jazz – Saturday January 28^th
Harpeth Rising – from Nashville – Saturday Feb. 18^th

The above are part of the Blue Moon Concert series at the UU Coffeehouse, 2701 Heyward, Columbia, SC; at the corner of Heyward and Woodrow in the heart of ShandonUnitarian Universalist Congregation, 2701 Heyward, Columbia, SC. Tickets are $20. Reserve your tickets through the UU Hotline, (803) 200-2824. Doors open at 7:00, show starts at 8:00.. Reserve your tickets through the UU Hotline, (803) 200-2824. Doors open at 7:00, shows at 8:00.  Tickets and info for those are available via Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/UUCoffeehouse/

And please remember that gift giving is easy for your music lovers - www.papajazz.com has all your music needs and a few first-edition signed copies of my photographic essay, South Carolina Blues. If they sell out, or you live far away, you can find it at https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/9781467114721/South-Carolina-Blues

 May 2017 bring all good things!
Clair DeLune and RockyDawg

An art poster (11x/17) of the front cover of "South Carolina Blues" is available for sale by your host, Clair DeLune.

 Copies of the book, South Carolina Blues are available from the publisher, and wherever books are sold - in Columbia, signed copies are available from our favorite record shop, Papa Jazz on Greene Street for the cover price of $22 plus tax. And, as always, mail order signed first-editions are available from the author directly by sending a check or money order for $28 dollars to Clair DeLune at POB 5591 Columbia, SC, 29250; which includes price of book, tax and $4 S/H. Please indicate to whom you would like the book inscribed (please print clearly). A perfect gift for any Sandlapper, or music or history buff - or all three!

The print is available for $25, including postage and handling in the continental U.S.



 See you on the air - wusc.sc.edu - then click LISTEN

Clair DeLune and RawkyDawg, Blues Defender

As always we thank our underwriters, who help bring great music to the Midlands, because we could not imagine our show without their input and support:  Papa Jazz Record Shoppe; California Republic Stand Up Paddleboards in Leesville near Lake Murray (closed for the season); and Word of Mouth Productions. You can link to these orgs by clicking on the visuals...

 

http://www.californiarepublicsup.com/

 

Blue Moon Concerts

 
This blog is brought to you  in part by:
South Carolina Blues:
500 years of roots and blues music history in S.C.
by Clair DeLune
on Arcadia Publishing

Something Wrong In the World 1/17/2017 Blues Moon Radio Show

Something Wrong In the World
1/17/2017 Blues Moon Radio Show

Creative Commons usage permitted/Bing

Every now and again, it seems the world just takes a break from fostering humanity. This show has stood as a stalwart champion of humanity, with a focus on studying what gives humans the blues (depression/sadness) and attempting to cure it with music (The Blues, which is an antidote to the blues).

Lately, we seem to be heading back to a time when hurtful things are acceptable. My protest against that is this show with the theme, "Something Wrong In This World."

My motto is "Be Nice, Do Right."

Drink Small, who was my pro bono PR client for almost 20 years, has a signature song called "Never Too Late to Do Right" and we'll include that.

Be nice to yourselves and each other, dear ones. It hardly takes any energy to do right and a whole lot to do wrong and have to fix it later. Sometimes things cannot be made right. Better to do it well the first time.

Love from the sunny RockyDawg and Miss Clair...

Main playlist (we might pick some unadvertised gems to add!):

We always love to remind you that there are some great concerts coming your way:

Blue Moon Concert Series
Ultrafaux – Gypsy Jazz – Saturday January 28^th
Harpeth Rising – from Nashville – Saturday Feb. 18^th

The above are part of the Blue Moon Concert series at the UU Coffeehouse, 2701 Heyward, Columbia, SC; at the corner of Heyward and Woodrow in the heart of ShandonUnitarian Universalist Congregation, 2701 Heyward, Columbia, SC. Tickets are $20. Reserve your tickets through the UU Hotline, (803) 200-2824. Doors open at 7:00, show starts at 8:00.. Reserve your tickets through the UU Hotline, (803) 200-2824. Doors open at 7:00, shows at 8:00.  Tickets and info for those are available via Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/UUCoffeehouse/

And please remember that gift giving is easy for your music lovers - www.papajazz.com has all your music needs and a few first-edition signed copies of my photographic essay, South Carolina Blues. If they sell out, or you live far away, you can find it at https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/9781467114721/South-Carolina-Blues

 May 2017 bring all good things!
Clair DeLune and RockyDawg

An art poster (11x/17) of the front cover of "South Carolina Blues" is available for sale by your host, Clair DeLune.

 Copies of the book, South Carolina Blues are available from the publisher, and wherever books are sold - in Columbia, signed copies are available from our favorite record shop, Papa Jazz on Greene Street for the cover price of $22 plus tax. And, as always, mail order signed first-editions are available from the author directly by sending a check or money order for $28 dollars to Clair DeLune at POB 5591 Columbia, SC, 29250; which includes price of book, tax and $4 S/H. Please indicate to whom you would like the book inscribed (please print clearly). A perfect gift for any Sandlapper, or music or history buff - or all three!

The print is available for $25, including postage and handling in the continental U.S.



 See you on the air - wusc.sc.edu - then click LISTEN

Clair DeLune and RawkyDawg, Blues Defender

As always we thank our underwriters, who help bring great music to the Midlands, because we could not imagine our show without their input and support:  Papa Jazz Record Shoppe; California Republic Stand Up Paddleboards in Leesville near Lake Murray (closed for the season); and Word of Mouth Productions. You can link to these orgs by clicking on the visuals...

 

http://www.californiarepublicsup.com/

 

Blues Moon Concerts

 

and
This blog is brought to you  in part by:
South Carolina Blues:
500 years of roots and blues music history in S.C.
by Clair DeLune
on Arcadia Publishing

Tribute to Lonnie Mack and Prince on tonight's Blues Moon Radio April 26, 2016

I was stunned and heartbroken to learn about Lonnie Mack's death.



Lonnie Mack at Rising Sun
Photo by Russell House
 used with permission (CC30) 

I had a personal experience with him. After listening to his records in awe from the age of four, I flew across country and saw him play three decades ago in San Francisco. Long interesting story about how it transpired that I'll save for my memoirs, but the short chat we had that evening after he performed made it golden for me in the city of the Golden Gate Bridge.

It stuck with me how kind and patient he was -- taking the time to speak with me for half an hour. He seemed genuinely surprised and pleased that a young girl would be such a fan for so long.

It was in a club called Wolfgang's, and I spied Bill Graham, whose middle name was Wolfgang, so I surmised it was his club. Graham was also surprised I recognized him and picked him out of the crowd - but I wanted to compliment him for all he had done for music, too.

Both were gracious, both pioneers, both off-the-charts innovators.

Both are gone.

So we pay tribute to Lonnie Mack, as well as Prince, who died the same day and who was a musician's musician as well as having multitudes of fans. We don't play top 40 hits (of the last 40 years) on our station, so we'll feature Slam Allen's cover of Purple Rain as we tip our "raspberry berets."

We also welcome Tish Hinojosa to Columbia this Saturday evening, sponsored by the fine folks at the UU Coffeehouse. Contact them at UUCoffeehouse on Facebook for tickets and information.

On the fourth week of the month, we always feature our artist of the millennium, Drink Small, the Blues Doctor. Tonight's cut is from a very early, very obscure, LP that I had been hunting for years. Glad to share some of these long-unplayed cuts with Drink Small fans!

We did not finish all we had from last week, so we'll sprinkle some of those cuts atop the following menu:

As always, thank you so much for taking time to tune in!
Clair DeLune and RockyDawg, Blues Defender...

As always we thank our underwriters, who help bring great music to the Midlands, because we could not imagine our show without their input and support:  Papa Jazz Record Shoppe, the UU Coffeehouse and California Republic Stand Up Paddleboards in Leesville near Lake Murray.

You can link to these orgs by clicking on the visuals...

At last! Long-awaited first history of South Carolina Blues is published!

Announcing the release of "South Carolina Blues," by Clair DeLune from Arcadia Publishing.

https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/9781467114721/South-Carolina-Blues

The history of South Carolina blues is a long, deep—and sometimes painful—story. However, it is a narrative with aspects as compelling as the music itself. Geographical differences in America led to variations in the styles of music that developed from African rhythms. The wet, marshy landscape and hot, muggy weather of the Carolina Lowcountry combined to cultivate not only rice, but a Gullah-based style of South Carolina blues. In drier climates, toward the Midlands and the Upstate, the combination of European influences led to the emergence of Piedmont blues, which in turn spawned country music as well as bluegrass. Those same Gullah roots resulted in four major dance crazes, starting with the Charleston.

In this book, music history professor and blues radio host Clair DeLune dusts off neglected nuggets of history, drawing on archival photographs and rarely seen memorabilia from a generation of musicians’ personal collections. Readers will learn not only new information about some famous players who left their musical mark on history, but even more about the not-so-famous ones, as well as modern masters who carry on the rhythms of their predecessors and are truly keeping South Carolina blues alive.

Special guest host, Ethnomusicologist Doug Peach, on Blues Moon Radio - playlist for March 31, 2015

We have much great music to cover on this Tuesday's Blues Moon Radio show...

... We have a very special guest host, Doug Peach, of the Folklife division at the University of South Carolina's McKissick Museum and who also represents the South Carolina Arts Commission - both very fine institutions, and I'm sure it has been said before, but Doug is a real peach and so smart about roots music.

We're glad to have him on air with us to share info about two Native American groups that come from Blues and Gospel influences.

Dark Water Rising and Lakota John and Kin, two Native American musical acts will perform April 3, 2015 at McKissick, so we're pleased to give listeners of Blues Moon Radio a preview of these talented artists' music. McKissick also has an exhibit of Native American art ongoing through July, so be sure to see that as well as the concert.

Because Charly Lowry of Dark Water Rising has a gospel background, we'll kick off with a few gospel numbers that have to do with Easter, then we'll play a few of those groups' influences, including Jesse Fuller, Etta James and Robert Johnson, and talk a bit about how they were influenced by them, and about their music, then we'll let you listen a few songs by each group. For many of you, it will be your first time to hear these groups. Doug has given us a platform and background to inform our awareness of their work. We're so glad to have him join us on Blues Moon Radio!

When we wrap up our focus on those groups and their influences we'll have a little time left. Because of the upcoming holidays we'll circle back to the Spring theme and celebrate things that spring forth this time of year, including rabbits, jelly beans and green grass. Finally, we'll tidy up Women's History Month with songs about women by men. I mean, they had to get a word in edgewise SOMEtime this month, right? We love our menfolk and cannot wait to hear what they have to say.

I found a song called Netta Mae, then virtually the same song entitled Nellie Mae by a different singer. Interesting to compare and contrast.

Hope you will tune in on Tuesday evening from 6-8, so don't be late! (6 p.m. EDT, USA and -5 GMT - if you are on daylight savings, if not you have to figure out how to adjust that time - whoa - I cannot make my head go there!). We're on the same time frame as Atlanta GA and NYC/USA. Hope that helps!

See you at www.wusc.sc.edu - stream it there or at iTunes/college and university/WUSC
Clair and Rocky and special guest host, Doug Peach (SC Folklife and Traditional Arts Program Coordinator, 777-7707, peachd@mailbox.sc.edu)

Playlist below:

We are excited to announce that Lowcountry Legend, Shrimp City Slim will be playing in Columbia SC on Wednesday, April 1st (no foolin', y'all!) at Utopia Food and Spirits... come hear the piano stylings of Shrimp City Slim and enjoy the great Utopia menu - 21+ only; no cover charge - show usually starts around 8 p.m. - Blues Moon Radio will play a cut or two from SCS tonight to get you in the mood! 4330 Ft. Jackson Blvd (new location across from Whole Foods - just a stone's throw from the old locale).

It is with great happiness that a very good friend and fervent supporter of Blues in this town has hitched his wagon to a star. We're bursting with happiness at the love between Doc and Mrs. Jones and we wish them nothing but love, happiness and a long and healthy life together - just know all will be wonderful because they deserve nothing but the BEST. I'll share a special song just for them tonight - Drink Small wanted me to wish them the very best too and asked me to let them know he sends his love and prayers for all good things along with mine.

Our artist of the millennium, Drink Small, the Blues Doctor, will sing Charleston Women for us to close the show ... we think that will be a very full evening of music, so don't miss a moment of the misses and misters!

Remember - in all things, we have to take the bad with the good, but never forget - miracles happen! Yeah, they do...

Sending love to all my Blues buddies - from me and the RockyDawg,
Clair

Blues Moon Radio Playlist for Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015 (Groundhog Day... ahem, again!)

Blues Moon Radio Playlist
Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015
(Groundhog Day... ahem, again!)

Yes, we are revisiting Groundhog Day - in the hope that Phil or another beloved rodent will predict something other than six more weeks of winter... perhaps six more weeks of basketball? I think that's a pretty sure bet.

So, we'll do a little snowy weather, then a TON of Groundhog songs (cannot believe I have that many - so just wanted to share... even the cover versions); then we'll segue into all things spring - rain, flowers, and other spring things. Then, because it is our rainy season here in Sunny South Carolina, more rain songs.

We won't have time for all of this, but... we can always flood (yep, I went there) into next week's playlist. We had a devil of a time finishing last week, and there are some leftovers there, too... but no idea when we'll pick those back up.

Tonight's debut new music is from Kubek and King - Fat Man's Shine Parlor on Blind Pig Records. Such nice folks ... since we are on a watery flood theme, we'll select "River of Whiskey." Read more about the release and find artist bio on the Internet at: http://www.blindpigrecords.com/index.cfm?section=album&catalognum=BPCD5163
and at:  http://www.blindpigrecords.com/index.cfm?section=artists&artistid=33 


Don't forget, our locally-owned record store has the best Blues selection around and if they ain't got it, they'll go out and (try to) get it... and they rarely cannot find a recording that is on the market. So remember to check out Papa Jazz Record Shoppe in Five Points of Columbia SC...

Blues Moon Radio is brought to you in part by Papa Jazz and we are proud to be associated with this fine group of audiophiles.


As we do each week, we will also pay tribute to S.C.'s Ambassador of the Blues, Drink Small, the Blues Doctor with two songs:

Here are tonight's playlists - we won't have time to play them all, but we'll pick and choose.from these lists.

Enjoy your belated groundhog day show...
Enjoy your belated groundhog day show...
Enjoy your belated groundhog day show...
Enjoy your belated groundhog day show...
Enj... and so forth.

Is it just me or are the months getting shorter?
Ba-dum-pum. Sorry. I'll stop.
Soon... I promise.


Thanks for tuning in, y'all,
Clair and RockyDawg

http://www.papajazz.com/

Blues Moon Radio Playlist Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015 Devil & the Doctor Blues

Blues Moon Radio Playlist
Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015

Devil and the Doctor Blues

Drink Small, pictured here at his 80th birthday
celebration at Music of the Carolinas class in the Institute
for Southern Studies at the University of South Carolina

Happy to celebrate the 82nd birthday of our beloved, iconic, legendary Bluesman, Drink Small.

He'll be featured in tonight's show and will appear on his birthday at the Mousetrap in Middleburg Mall off Forest Drive in Columbia SC for a happy hour show starting at 4 p.m. Wednesday, January 28, 2015.

For a taste of what you will hear, click on this video from Sunday's show.



Tonight's show will correct the devilish technology error that prevented our playing the second half of last week's show, Gamblin' with the Devil. And we'll feature lots of tribute songs to doctors in honor of The Blues Doctor, Drink Small.

We also feature another play from local jug band, The Runaway Jug Band, with their title cut.

Enjoy the show! And please give Drink a shout out on his FB page (please click LIKE) at: Drink Small, the Blues Doctor.

Thanks!
Your host...
Clair DeLune

Playlist: 

Drink Small, the Blues Doctor's public appearances and merchandise

Drink Small has asked Blues Moon Radio to help him get the word out and let everyone know about his appearance and concert schedule and available merchandise.

RockyDawg and Clair DeLune are among Drink's biggest fans, thus we are happy to assist:

Drink says, "Clair DeLune, of Blues Moon Radio, will interview me on the air Tuesday evening, Jan. 13th - show starts at 6 o'clock; interview in the second hour. I'll tell all y'all about my early days in music, and you can listen with me as she plays "I Love You Alberta" - you know, the song that inspired the t-shirts I have for sale? I have not heard that song in maybe forty years. Don't forget to come see me ..."

Drink Small, The Blues Doctor
Like him on Facebook



Schedule:
Drink will be in Chester SC on Thursday, the 15th; Winnsboro on Sunday the 25th in the afternoon; we are hoping for a Columbia date on his birthday Jan 28 (tba) and in Feb he will be at Home Team BBQ in Chas SC on Feb 7 in the afternoon; with an evening show at the Marlboro Civic Center on Feb 28.

Merchandise:

For tee shirt orders, please send a check made out to Drink Small with your address, phone and e-mail address along with your size and style (long or short sleeved). Sizes range from medium to XXXL. Styles and prices are: long sleeved = $25; short sleeved =20; please add $7.50 for s/h if you need it mailed to you (same for any amount of t-shirts ordered - just pay once for s/h).

Mail to: Drink Small c/o Blues Moon Radio - POB 5591 Columbia SC 29250. If you live in Columbia, we can arrange to meet for delivery. All proceeds after paying for the shirt production go to Drink Small. You can e-mail bluesmoonradio@gmail.com with any questions. Drink does not have a paypal account, but we are working on that. Thanks for your patience with the "old school ways." ;)



Books:

Drink Small
https://historypress.net/catalogue/bookstore/books/Drink-Small/9781626197404

by Gail Wilson-Giarratano, PhDFor fans of the blues, Drink Small is synonymous with South Carolina. Drink rose from the cotton fields of Bishopville to become a music legend. Price: $19.99



We Are the Music Makers: Photo album and 2-CD set from Music Maker Relief Foundation ($50 for both; available separately for 38 and 15). 







Coming in 2015: Chapters on Drink Small, written by Clair DeLune, in two soon-to-be-published books by Muddy Ford Press and USC Press.

Magazine articles:
Columbia Living Sept/Oct 2014:
http://www.columbialivingmag.com/drink-small-the-blues-doctor

Drink Small, the Blues Doctor

Posted On September 17, 2014

Posted In Columbia Living Magazine Sept-Oct 2014, People

Blues Lore you can Adore
By Clair DeLune
 
The blues is an angst of the spirit, a sadness we all get from time to time. Blues music takes that angst, and addresses it with lyrics and melody that pull the listener through to better times.

Blues music does not make a person sad.

On the contrary, it is often the very best cure for the blues.                       
 
“Everybody got the blues,” explains Drink Small, our state’s best known practitioner of the curative power of the Blues. “Rich people got the blues because they are trying to keep the money, poor people got the blues because they are trying to get some money, and Drink Small got the blues because I ain't got no money.”

South Carolina’s Blues Ambassador, also known as “the Blues Doctor,” explains that Blues isn’t just about money or love. It has no boundaries. “Blues is geographical. It is everywhere. What makes you feel good might make another feel bad. What blues is to some is not blues to another. Some people got it for money, some for love and some for property. Black people has the blues, white people has the blues and even albino has the blues. No one can narrow it down to one face or one place.”

At age 81, Small struggles with issues of aging and health concerns, but despite his recent blindness, still performs with the fire and zest he possessed in his youth.

Born in 1933, he grew up with his unmarried mother, Alice “Missie” Small, on a farm run by her brothers outside Bishopville. Although he did not do much farming as a boy, “I picked a teeny weeny bit of cotton, so I know what it is like,” he remembers.

His father was a man named Arthur Jackson who fathered a number of children by different women. Young Drink was inspired to begin playing at age 11 by his Uncle Joe Small who played double-entendre Blues on guitar in their small sharecropper’s cottage.

“My uncle had a guitar and I fooled around on that,” he recalls. What would become Small’s lesser-known, but stellar, keyboard prowess would also be inspired by Uncle Joe. “We had an old pump organ; I started playing “Coon Shine Baby” on that. Then I started on the one string guitar; I played (the Blind Boy Fuller hit) ‘Bottle Up and Go.’ I made my own little guitar; for strings I cut up an old inner tube.”

Drink not only cut up inner tubes, he was known as a “cut up,” in school. He liked to have fun, a trait that still shines through. Later, he went to trade school to become a barber. “But, I couldn’t be a musician at night and cut hair all day. I gave up barberin’ to play music full time.”

His roots were based in spiritual music and gospel. When he started the Six Stars back in his high school years, he was touted as one of the top guitar instrumentalists nationally before he gained the confidence to add his basso profundo voice to the mix.

Then came his time with the Spiritual Aires, who recorded their gospel, spirituals, and messages of salvation on Vee Jay records in the 1950s. “We played the Apollo Theatre and toured with Sam Cooke, the Harmonizing Four and the Staple Singers,” Small recalls. “Sister Rosetta Tharpe took me on tour and wanted me to be her permanent guitar player.”

As times change, so does a musician’s playlist. Small amended his style to secular music and further developed his Blues music style, plus some departures into a popular and then-nearly-mandatory repertoire of Risqué Blues, which were often what put dinner on the table.

Small could have been a huge international star, but he has remained loyal to South Carolina. Several venues were regular haunts for his special style of music.

“Drink Small was a fixture at many Blues clubs around the state, from the black-owned Corporal Club in Greenwood where Otis Redding used to play, to the Hillside Club, a small run-down shack in the woods outside Cokesbury, to the famed Jackson’s Station Depot, a late-night Rhythm and Blues Club in Hodges,” said Daniel M. Harrison, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sociology at Lander University. “It was a rocking Blues joint – a tiny little club in the middle of nowhere – but its stage was graced by national acts of all kinds such as REM, Widespread Panic, Poco, Tinsley Ellis, Bob Margolin, Nappy Brown, the Legendary Blues Band, and more. Drink Small’s consistent presence there through the years was a major contributor to its success.”

“Drink Small is a living legend of African-American traditional music in the Palmetto State,” said Douglas Peach, South Carolina Folklife Program Coordinator at the McKissick Museum and the S.C. Arts Commission. “His brand of Piedmont Blues is influenced by jazz, ragtime, R&B, and gospel music, although it never sounds quite like anyone but him. Drink’s bass voice and accompanying guitar have caused many to fall ‘under the spell of the arts,’ and people know that a place with a photo of ‘The Blues Doctor’ on the wall is authentic.”

Peach added, “While many people play the Blues, Drink lives the Blues.”
In a soon-to-be-released biography from History Press titled, Drink Small, the Blues Doctor: Me, Myself and I; Gail Wilson Giarratano, Ph.D., writes about the qualities that make Drink Small a heritage musician for the world, not just South Carolina.

“He has a resilience,” says Giarratano. “Others gave up, but Drink persevered. He didn’t just do it when it went well, he dedicated himself with a resilience few others embrace.

“He told me, ‘It’s in me; I don’t have a choice.’ That is why we love him,” she said. “We have to determine what it is we value, then we must honor and care for people like Drink Small – people who have shaped the present and future by their historic contributions.”

Small is famous for his brief, pithy, rhymed, philosophical musings, which he calls “Drinkisms,” which “come from my heart,” he said.

“I’m getting it from the roof,” he’s been heard to shout in true gospel style. “I’m the foundation and the roof. I’m the only Drink Small in the world. I’m not a duplicator; I’m an originator.”

Small understands his place in that world. “People come to see me because I am different,” Small said. “There is nobody in the world like Drink Small. They’ve never heard nothing like me. I am one of a kind.”

What remains most important to Drink Small is other people. Not just his fans and friends, who are an integral force in his continuing struggle against increasing physical frailty, but everyone.

As he thinks more about “end of life issues,” he’s had to choose between the “Hallelujah and the Boogaloo.” The tide has turned back from purely popular Blues to more spiritual themes, both in music and for Small personally since his 75th birthday when he issued his latest full-length CD, “Tryin’ to Survive at 75.”

As the July 2014 featured artist for the Music Maker Relief Foundation series at the Mars Theatre in Springfield, Georgia, Small engaged the audience from the first note he played on his guitar, named Geraldine.
After his performance, during which he twice played his new signature song, “Never Too Late to Do Right,” a visibly moved Small said, “I want to thank everybody for coming out and seeing me - made me feel so good! Now I want everybody to learn my song ‘Never Too Late to Do Right.’ I want everybody to help me make it a hit record! When I say hit, I am not talking about money - I want something to hit your heart... I want to see a strong population of good people and good feelings! Get right!”

Get right with Drink Small, y’all, from the Hallelujah to the Boogaloo – and back again.

https://historypress.net/search.php?s=drink+small

Blues concert update: Drink Small at Mars Theater in Springfield GA July 12

Hope everyone in and near Georgia will trek down to see the amazing Drink Small, the Blues Doctor (click here to LIKE his Facebook page) for the Music Maker Relief Foundation show ...

Here is the poster for the show at the Mars Theater:

Mars Theatre presents Drink Small, the Blues Doctor

From the Web site (link above):
"Drink Small (his real name), based in Columbia, SC, is known worldwide as "The Blues Doctor". Born on January 28, 1933 in Bishopville, SC, he learned his first rudiments of music, as a child, on guitar and piano. His first recordings were with The Spiritualaires of Columbia, SC (1955-56, Vee Jay Records), during which time he received numerous awards as a top gospel guitarist, touring nationally and performing at such notable venues as The Apollo (NYC), The Howard (DC), The Regal (Chicago), etc. He cut his first blues record (1959: "I Love You Albertha" b/w "Cold Cold Rain) on Savoy Records subsidiary Sharp; a platter now cherished by collectors everywhere. Subsequent recordings for Ichiban, Erwin Music, Mapleshade, Southland, and his own Bishopville Records imprint helped position him on the international blues scene. Drink Small has played the Chicago Blues Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage, Smithsonian Folk-Llfe, The World's Fair (Knoxville), virtually every major blues festival in the Southeast, and, despite a dislike for flying, even gigged in Europe (Finland, 1992) at the urging of his longtime friend and collaborator (the late) Charles Derrick. Drink Small is still going strong, performing solo & with band. Ever creative, he continues to write new songs and releases at least one record every year. His "The United States Will Never Be the Same" (2008) "Living in a BBQ World" (2011) are witty blues observations and deserve to be in every serious blues library."

NOTE FROM CLAIR: Drink and I are working on a very special CD that will include those two songs - available soon!

Blues Moon Radio playlist: Titanic and Reptiles -- Tuesday, April 15, 2014

On last week's Blues Moon Radio show we featured a couple of songs that mentioned the Titanic Disaster; and this week, April 15th, 2014, we will bookend the tribute to those who lost their lives when that great ship went down with several more songs dedicated to the tragic event, which remains in our hearts and minds over a century later.

Snake Oil: proven NOT to cure what
ails you, but some good music might
make you feel fine. No snakes were
harmed in the posting of this photo,
which is available royalty-free, per
BING, at:  http://farm4.static.flickr.com/
3386/5752865198_a5dea07992.jpg

To take our minds off a certain taxing situation and to denote the onset of the slithery season, with your host having already uncovered her first frog and snake of the season in her garden (THAT will get one's blood going!), we will play songs with a reptilian/amphibian theme... and as a special bonus, we'll focus on alligators, too. Sorry turtles. Perhaps next time you will make the cut... you were a little slow on the uptake. Yes, I know... not your fault at all, dears. I completely understand. Let's hope I can avoid a "tort"oise lawsuit ... ahem. 

Not trying to act like a snake oil salesman, but Blues Moon Radio has the music that could just cure (Disclaimer: or mitigate... or do nothing at ALL for) your ailments... just tune in to WUSC-FM via the stream at www.wusc.sc.edu between 6-8 p.m. ET/USA each Tuesday (look for the playlist and "listen" button) and wait for the good feelings to pour all over you. Might help if you exercised regularly, ate better and dang it... when ARE you going to make that doctor's appointment you've been whining about, eh? I cannot do it all, you know. LOL!

In addition to our customary tribute to Drink Small (this week's cut will be announced on air), here is a list of  some of the music we'll feature:

, 

Our birthday tributes will include the legendary Bessie Smith and one of the Jelly Roll Kings, Frank Frost: 

Thanks as always for tuning in... your hosts, RockyDawg-BluesDefender and I, welcome you to LIKE us on Facebook at @Blues Moon Radio and follow us on Twitter at BluesMoonRadio - don't forget to LIKE "Drink Small, the Blues Doctor" on his official page on Facebook, as well.

We hope you enjoy the show... and don't get snakebit on April 15th! Remember to sign and send those tax forms!

Clair DeLune

Drink Small, the Blues Doctor

Drink Small, the Blues Doctor, is a key figure in the Carolina music scene. He prefers we not call his style Piedmont Blues, because - although he plays Piedmont style powerfully - he plays a lot of different styles, even Delta Blues, but he doesn't live in the Delta. When he lectured my university class (Music of the Carolinas), he artfully delineated the difference between a playing style, a location, and a playing style associated with a location.



Drink is 80 now and, in a conversation we had recently, we discussed lots of old music venues around the Capitol City of SC (Columbia) that have "up and gone."

I'll be talking more to Drink about places, stories and events as I gather more material for my upcoming book - would love to hear your stories, too, about places and roots music throughout South Carolina (Upstate to Lowcountry and everywhere inbetween). Please feel free to contact me on my FB pages (Blues Moon Radio) or leave a comment here.

If you know Drink and want to give him a call - or if you are a fan but barely know him at all - please comment and share your thoughts - he would love to hear them and I'll be happy to relay any you leave here.

If you would like to order a CD or signed photograph, let me know and we'll arrange that, too. "It's hard to be a sick, blind, old man," Drink says. He can use any support and encouragement he can get.

Drop Drink Small a line c/o Blues Moon Radio and we'll get your get-well cards to him as well.

If you would like his latest CD or a color photo of him, please include a suggested donation of $25 for each or $45 for both - we'll cover S&H, but be sure you include your return address. He'll sign the photos as long as he is able. The mailing address is: DRINK SMALL c/o PO BOX 5591 Columbia SC 29250.

As we have seen, sadly our Blues icons do not last forever - let's pay tribute while we can.

Blues Moon Radio Playlist Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013

Blues Moon Radio playlist
Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013

Special Guest: Drink Small "pre"celebrating his 80th birthday Jan. 28

Playlist (chrono from bottom up)
NEW...

Jon Shain / Station Master / Ordinary Cats by , Jan 22, 2013, 7:49:53 pm

~~~

Big Mojo Elem / Special Kind of Love by , Jan 22, 2013, 7:44:26 pm

Hogman Maxey / Rock Me Mama by , Jan 22, 2013, 7:41:14 pm

Sam Chatmon / Sitting on Top of the World by , Jan 22, 2013, 7:38:46 pm

~~~

Johnny Young / All I Want For my Breakfast by , Jan 22, 2013, 7:30:20 pm

Robert Wilkins / That s No Way to Get Along by , Jan 22, 2013, 7:27:26 pm

Mississippi John Hurt / Write Me a Few Lines by , Jan 22, 2013, 7:23:45 pm

Doug Quattlebaum / If You Ever Been Mistreated by , Jan 22, 2013, 7:18:51 pm

~~~

Slim Harpo / Baby Scratch My Back by , Jan 22, 2013, 7:13:04 pm

Bobo Jenkins / Tell Me Who by , Jan 22, 2013, 7:10:31 pm

Al Downing Down on the Farm by , Jan 22, 2013, 7:08:59 pm

Joe D Johnson / Rattlesnake Daddy by , Jan 22, 2013, 7:07:38 pm

Eddy the Chief Clearwater / Blues Hang Out by , Jan 22, 2013, 7:02:52 pm

~~~

Ishman Bracey / Left Alone Blues by , Jan 22, 2013, 6:51:45 pm

Frank Stokes / Downtown Blues by , Jan 22, 2013, 6:49:08 pm

Rube Lacey / Mississippi Jail House Groan by , Jan 22, 2013, 6:48:47 pm

Henry Brown and Edith Johnson / Little Drops of Water by , Jan 22, 2013, 6:42:34 pm

Eva Taylor / Organ Grinder by , Jan 22, 2013, 6:38:15 pm
~~~~

Drink Small / A Good Woman is Hard To Find by , Jan 22, 2013, 6:30:03 pm

Drink Small / The Nurse Song by , Jan 22, 2013, 6:19:20 pm

Drink Small / Fish Fryin Mama by , Jan 22, 2013, 6:06:17 pm

Drink Small / Three River Blues by , Jan 22, 2013, 6:03:10 pm

Blues Moon with Clair Delune - special guest Drink Small by , Jan 22, 2013, 6:00:03 pm

Drink Small celebrates turning 80; to appear on Blues Moon Radio

So excited to have the opportunity to host a very special guest tonight celebrating a very special event!

Drink Small, who has been introduced by long-time Blues promoter, Gary Erwin, as:

Sunday, January 27
DRINK SMALL 80th BIRTHDAY PARTY...JAM/CONCERT/FUNDRAISER
WHERE: 145 Club, Winnsboro, SC (Midlands)
www.the145club.com
WHEN: Starts at 4:30 p.m. and carries on till whenever.
WHO: The man himself will be there with help from MARV WARD, DOUG ALLEN, and a huge host of other friends, students, admirers helping jam it out.
HOW MUCH: $10 minimum admission with all funds going to DRINK SMALL.
WHO IS DRINK SMALL? He's "The Blues Doctor". Born in 1933 in Bishopville, SC, DRINK SMALL has been a professional musician (blues & much more) since his youth. His earliest recordings date from 1956 with The Spiritualaires of Columbia, SC (gospel).
His first blues record was in 1959 on Sharp Records (Savoy subsidiary) with subsequent blues releases on Southland, Erwin Music, Ichiban, Mapleshade, Musicmaker, and of course his own label Bishopville Records.
He has played all the major festivals (Chicago, NOLA Jazz & Heritage, Lowcountry Blues Bash, Lincoln Center, The Apollo, etc. etc.) and played every honky-tonk and juke joint from Manning to Memphis.
We describe him as "holy-roller blues troublemaker blessed with the world's great basso-profundo voice and a double-threat on razorwire guitar and barrelhouse piano). DRINK SMALL is South Carolina's blues patron saint and the last of his kind." And all of us blues players in the region have learned from him.

Yes, the man himself will be on the air tonight with Clair DeLune and Doug Allen.



Freddie Vanderford, Drink Small & Doug Allen

He will spend the afternoon at a birthday party with students at USC who are enrolled in Music of the Carolinas, through the Institute of Southern Studies (humanities course).

We'll post a playlist that we'll pull from, but with stories flying and merriment abounding, we might not fit them all in.

Tune in and catch it... and if you have a birthday wish or gift you'd like to send Drink for his birthday or recent wedding to the beautiful Andreana, please send to Drink Small, care of Blues Moon Radio: POB 5591 Columbia SC 29250... let's make his 80th special!

Thanks for letting us share this event with you!
Clair DeLune, Blues Moon Radio and WUSC-FM

Blues Moon Radio playlist for Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011

Thanksgiving (food) and a tribute to John F. Kennedy are tonight's themes.

No matter what happens in life, there is always room for gratitude.

Drink Small - Livin' in a Barbeque World from his new single!
Visit his FB page at: www.facebook.com/DrinkSmall

...and be sure to answer the quiz question with "Clair DeLune's Radio Show!" - what fun to be a quiz question! Who knew that would ever happen? Not I!

Robert Johnson / Come on in My Kitchen

Red Rodney Sextet / Dig This Menu Please

Joe Liggins and his Honeydrippers / Pink Champagne

New Legacy Duo / She Can Cook Good Sallet

Blind Boy Fuller / Meat Shakin' Woman

Louisiana Red / Turkey Killer

Robert Lighthouse / Turkey Leg Woman

Lead Belly / Diggin' My Potatoes

Brownie McGhee / Picking My Tomatoes

Arthur Weston / Pea Vine Special

Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers / Sugar

Mark Sallings / Sugar Sweet

Kenny Sultan and Tom Ball / Sweet Temptation

Freddy Brown / Whip It to a Jelly

The Jelly Roll Kings / Jelly Roll Stroll

Tarter and Gay / Brownie Blues

Big Walter Horton / Put the Kettle On

The Beale Street Sheiks / Half Cup of Tea

J.B. Hutto and the Hawks / Pet Cream Man

Albert Collins / Too Many Dirty Dishes

Anson Funderburgh / Don't Want No Leftovers

Steve Jacobs and Artie Sherman / Left Overs

**ID** Elvin Bishop

Bessie Smith / Nobody in Town Can Bake a Sweet Jelly Roll Like Mine

Laurence "Luckyman" Beall / Hoe Cake

Taj Mahal / Cakewalk into Town

Blind Boy Fuller and Sonny Terry / I Want Some of Your Pie

King David's Jug Band / Sweet Potato Blues

Mississippi John Hurt / Candy Man Blues

Freddie Vanderford / Coffee

Hope Waits / Cigarettes and Coffee

**ID** Saffire

Saffire, the Uppity Blues Women / Sweet Substitute

We will close the show with a tribute to JFK, on the sad anniversary of his death, with a song by:

John Lee Granderson - A Man for the Nation